Regan called me over yesterday to proudly show me how he could zoom across the monkey bars on our swing set, and then climb up through the last rung and over the roof of the connecting tree house. He was grinning from ear to ear, and it reminded me of how my brothers and I would climb pine trees in the back yard of our apartment complex at his age. We'd climb everything in site actually, even the backside of the concrete stairs leading up to our 2nd story apartment.

One time out of curiosity I stuck my head through the open stair steps and realized I was completely stuck. I hollered at my brother to get help, and my mom came running out to see me dangling underneath the stairs with my head stuck about midway up.

We must have given her literally hundreds of adrenaline rushes and numerous near-heart attacks in those days. There was never a dull moment when me and my brothers were playing together, and there's never a dull moment with my kids either!

Later that day my daughters invited me to their "restaurant", which was a lawn chair under the patio set in our backyard. They each took turns taking my order for dinner and dessert, and all the food was carefully made "with love times 4" (my favorite number).

For dessert they made me a delicious strawberry rhubarb pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was served on a cracked red frisbee, and the ingredients were a half-inch layer of mud and twigs with three overly-ripe cherries on top. Yep, nothin' but the good stuff for good ole' dad!

Kids have incredible imaginations! It's like they can instantly transport themselves into another world, where the sky's the limit to what can happen.

Why is that so hard for us grown-ups to do anymore, and when did we lose that ability?

Maybe it's the constant daily grind at work that continually forces us into a routine that's void of imagination or creativity. Maybe it's the constant struggle to stay on top of bills, let alone make your dreams come true.

Maybe it's just reality - one my kids will have to face one day soon enough... but there's no rush in my opinion. I'm glad they can just be kids, and I want that to last as long as it seemed to last for me growing up as well.